Brockville Squadron
Events
Also, keep an eye on the Courses page for information about our ongoing training program.
| Fri Apr 27 |
John Cowan, Arctic Icebreaker Pilot (wow!) - more below This was a fantastic, compelling presentation, from a Captain who has spent 30 years at sea, many of them as an "ice pilot". Wow! |
| Thurs May 3 | "Seaway talk" - Potsdam (New York) Civic Center, 7 p.m. - directions available (ask!) |
| Sun Jun 03 |
BYC/CPS Sailpast Celebrate the start of the boating season, participate in the blessing of the boats, and sail past! Details TBA. |
| Sun June 10 |
Annual Awards/Graduation BBQ 3:30-5:30 p.m. -location: Fort Wellington, Prescott - RSVP and other details pending; check back soon (Come see the "new" gunboat on display - fascinating!) |
| Mon-Thu July 23-26 | "Lazy Days on the River", sponsored by the Ogdensburg squadron of the United States Power Squadron, at Bonnie Castle Resort, Alexandria Bay, NY - price, itinerary, etc., available (ask!) |
John Cowan, Arctic Icebreaking
In 1987 John Cowan started a 25 year relationship with Fednav of Montreal, mostly as Ice Navigator. In this capacity he has made about 350 winter transits of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and a small number in the Gulf of Finland on their ships going to St Petersburg in Russia. For many years he took their ships to the zinc mines at Nanisivik and Little Cornwallis Island in the eastern and central Arctic. Also spent a few years as ice pilot and berthing master on their ships going to SW Greenland.
Between 1989 and 1992 John was master on the ASL CYGNUS a RO-RO container vessel initially intended for a weekly service between Halifax/ St. John’s/ Cornerbrook. However, she spent about 15 months running to Saudi Arabia chartered to the US military during the first Gulf War. The Americans liked the ship enough that they bought it upon completion of the charter. So back John came to working with Fednav. During the summers of 2010 and 2011 he was let free for a few months and has spent those two summers as ice pilot involved in under the ice seismic operations in the Canadian Beaufort and then in the Russian very High Arctic (to within 120 miles of the north pole). Last summer he was one of two ice pilots onboard the Russian nuclear icebreaker ROSSIYA assisting a seismic vessel being used to gather under-sea geological information to support Russia’s claim to her sector of the Arctic. (All five polar countries are following this process as required by the UN under UNCLOS (ie. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)). His responsibility onboard was to operate specialised Canadian ice monitoring/detection equipment and also to try and ensure that the seismic vessel was not taken through ice which had the potential to damage the very expensive underwater equipment being towed astern the seismic ship. John will be doing something similar this year. He also does occasional expert witness work for London Marine lawyers in cases where ships have incurred damage etc in ice.
The presentation will be in the form of a power point presentation. The operation was to gather information to try and establish that the sub-sea geology beneath the Russian sector of the Arctic is an extension of the Russian land mass or continental shelf. Establishing this is a requirement of UNCLOS which by international agreement would then allow the Russians to claim mineral rights to what lies beneath the sea-bed in their sector. Canada and the other polar countries are carrying out similar surveys in their respective sectors. The presentation will describe the ice breaker and icebreaking, the under-ice seismic operation, and will show how to get it done in full ice cover of typically 2 metres thick (and often more). Lots of pictures of ice, polar bears and more ice.
Check back often for updates on these events and more.
Any other ideas are always welcome along with your support.
Brockville Squadron - Events Page
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons
Brockville Squadron
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-first posted: 2002-09-10
-updated: 2012-04-30